United finishes excellent season, but …

New Berlin - The New Berlin United boys volleyball team tied for first in the Woodland Conference with an 8-1 record and finished 13-9 overall this season.

Now the sad news: the United will lose 10 seniors to graduation.

Nick Olson, a first-team all state selection, all-Woodland Conference selection, Division 1 recruit, who just officially signed a letter of intent to attend Loyola Chicago, leads the way.

Steve Zeske, a first-team all-conference, Phil Batzner, a second-team all-conference, and Matt Nieberle, an honorable mention all-conference selection, will also graduate.

Two-year varsity players Josh Preiss, Scott Wilsens and Logan Schmidt, one-year varsity player Austin Winkler, and Austin Olson and Mitch Wanta round out the seniors.

"Each one of them is a significant loss to the program," United coach Jay Szatkowski said, "but we are blessed for what each of them gave to the program to make it better than it was when they began."

Olson, who finished the season with 344 kills and a .540 hitting percentage, was an impact player in every sense of the word.

"Teams knew they had to try and stop him in order to beat us and, more often than not, teams had no answer for him," Szatkowski said. "At 6-foot-9 he's a force on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. I am excited that he will be close enough for us to come watch him play in college because he will be a force at that level also.

"Zeske was a co-captain and was a very intelligent player and worked very hard to develop consistency in his game in all facets.

"Phil was the anchor of this defense. He worked very hard and had an amazing turnaround early in the season that really vaulted him to a new level. He learned a lot about the game and a lot about himself, and I couldn't be prouder of his performance this year.

"Matt, Josh, Austin W. and Scott all were significant contributors late in the season and we would not have got this far without each of them."

New Berlin lost in the sectional finals in five games (23-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 13-15) to end a fine season.

"I am so proud of my team for how they fought and gave everything they had in this match," Szatkowski said. "Outstanding performances were given at every position, but I will highlight career highs for Olson in kills (30), Zeske with a career-high in assists (60) and a career-high in digs by Batzner (17)."

Szatkowski also credited great performances by Matt Nieberle (19 kills) and John Collins (12 digs) and some great work in the middle from Winkler and Preiss.

Szatkowski pointed out two major highlights on the season.

"The first one is how much improvement I saw from my team from the beginning to the end," he said. "As a coach that is what makes you so proud.

"The second would be our victory in the sectional semifinal over the No. 1 seed Kenosha Tremper, who had only lost once all year when we played them. My guys gutted out a heck of a match that saw Nick Olson turn his ankle and have to leave the game for a short time midway through and saw Phil run into the stands to chase a ball and had a collision with the bleacher railing and got the wind knocked out of him, only to bounce right back up.

"My team never gave up and, in a very loud and energetic environment on the road, gave everything they had to succeed. I knew they could win and they believed it too."

Szatkowski is already excited about next season.

"I am excited about a very talented group of eighth-graders that will be entering the program to join a solid bunch of JV guys and my four returning varsity players," Szatkowski said. "I look for next year's team to be young but very fun to watch. Mickey Sugar, Trent Farrell, Greg Lawton and John Collins will be the leaders."